Scan barcode
A review by ergative
Asunder by Kerstin Hall
3.75
I'm not fully sure about this one. I really liked the complex religious-politics-history setting, which reminds me a bit of the Craft Sequence: old gods replaced by a new regime, with different nations split according to their affiliations w/r/t the conflict. That was incredibly rich world-building, and expressed without info-dumping, but by trusting the reader to figure it out. The more I think about it, the more I really, really liked that bit.
But I found the character arcs rather tedious. Oh No I Have Trauma From Daddy Issues! That whole reveal felt kind of . . . cheap? Like, it didn't really explain anything (and I find Daddy Issues as an explanatory device tedious even when it is effectively integrated). It was just chucked in to add depth or something. And the growing connection between Ferain and Karys feels dull too. I worry that if there is a sequel to finish the story (which is unfinished currently, given where it ends), it will focus more on the characters than on the world-building, which feels fully developed. And I'm not so interested in that, to be honest.
THe creepy, creepy ass Sabaster was delightfully creepy. That was great.
But I found the character arcs rather tedious. Oh No I Have Trauma From Daddy Issues! That whole reveal felt kind of . . . cheap? Like, it didn't really explain anything (and I find Daddy Issues as an explanatory device tedious even when it is effectively integrated). It was just chucked in to add depth or something. And the growing connection between Ferain and Karys feels dull too. I worry that if there is a sequel to finish the story (which is unfinished currently, given where it ends), it will focus more on the characters than on the world-building, which feels fully developed. And I'm not so interested in that, to be honest.
THe creepy, creepy ass Sabaster was delightfully creepy. That was great.